


steep odds

by Iris_Duncan_72



Series: Kisses!! [6]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Fairs, Fluff, Kisses, M/M, give this pairing the loving it deserves dammit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2020-04-24 01:45:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19163296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iris_Duncan_72/pseuds/Iris_Duncan_72
Summary: Jeongin has a date.





	steep odds

Jeongin rocked back and forth on his heels as he loitered near the fair’s entrance, waiting for Seungmin to arrive.  Despite the way his fox-bright eyes darted over the faces of everyone passing him on their way to the open gates and ticket booth, Jeongin wasn’t expecting his date for another four minutes at least.  In all the seven months he’d known the slightly older boy, Seungmin had never been anything less than perfectly punctual.

So Jeongin bounced on his toes, nervous excitement making him jittery, and fiddled with the straps of his blue dungarees as he counted down the seconds.

He’d been eagerly anticipating this ever since Seungmin had asked him on the date a week and a half ago.  Jeongin and Felix had been in the middle of their lunch, joking about something fleeting, when Seungmin, Jeongin’s maths and history class friend, had rocked up at their table.  The crimson blush on his cheeks and his temporary inability to maintain eye contact for more than a split second utterly destroying his attempt to appear as calm and collected as he usually did.  Jeongin hadn’t been much better though, turning red as a tomato.  At least he hadn’t stuttered through his reply, although after Seungmin had left, a spring to his step, Jeongin had nearly poked himself in the eye with his chopsticks, much to Felix’s amusement.

Honestly, thank the gods for Felix – Jeongin had nearly had a meltdown earlier this morning because what was he meant to _wear_ on a date with someone as amazing as Kim Seungmin and _why hadn’t he thought of this beforehand_.  Fortunately, Felix had been awake enough to answer Jeongin’s panicked phone call, whereupon the Australian ex-pat had told him to aim for a comfy balance between cute and casual.  Thus, Jeongin was in his dungarees and soft pink hoody.

‘Jeongin!’

The honey-blond boy turned and his heart thumped painfully against his sternum when he spotted Seungmin making his way over.  The older boy was as neatly dressed as ever, clad in dark blue shorts and a long-sleeved white t-shirt edged in red.  His shorts were doing a distressingly good job of showcasing his leanly muscled legs, earned from hours of baseball practise.

_Damn him for looking so perfect_ , Jeongin thought despairingly as he watched Seungmin’s fluffy brown hair flutter in the breeze and returned his wave.

‘I hope you weren’t waiting long?’ Seungmin asked upon reaching Jeongin, who shook his head.

‘I only got here a few minutes ago,’ he replied brightly.  ‘Ready to go in?’

‘Yep.’

Jeongin’s eyes went wide in indignant surprise when the older boy pulled a pair of tickets of his pocket.

‘Hey!’ Jeongin protested.  ‘I thought we were buying those now!’

Seungmin’s smile was positively angelic as he said with faux-innocence, ‘Oh, were we?’

‘ _Yes_ ,’ the younger retorted, before huffing in defeat.  ‘I’m getting the candy floss then.’

The older boy acquiesced to this with a delighted laugh and a few short moments later, they were through the gates.

The morning proved to be an exciting one – the boys had made it their goal to get through all the rides before they started in the games.  First they went on the bumper cars (Jeongin nearly bit his tongue off when someone crashed straight into his side of their car, so Seungmin made sure to rear-end them later).  Then there was the fear fall (Seungmin’s brave face lasted approximately three seconds before he lost all colour; Jeongin duly held his hand (he didn’t blush, shut up) and screamed his loudest dolphin screech on the way down to make him feel better).  This was followed by the rather tame roller coaster (they held hands just because) and everything else except the log ride because neither of them fancied getting wet.

After that, Jeongin bought them little sugared donuts and candyfloss, physically shoving Seungmin away when the older boy dared to reach for his wallet.

‘I bet I can win more stuffed toys for you,’ Seungmin challenged as he finished off his sticky pink floss and tossed the stick in a nearby bin.

Jeongin raised his brows and cast a seasoned eye over the assortment of games on offer.  Seungmin was their high school’s up-and-coming pitcher, renowned for his impressive fastball – the chances of him beating Jeongin at these games were very high.

‘You’re on,’ the blond boy said, giddiness swirling in the pit of his stomach, fox eyes flashing with competitive fire when they met Seungmin’s.

Jeongin’s talents might lie in playing the cello and singing trot songs but steep odds had never phased him before and he wasn’t going to let them now.

The older boy grinned and squeezed Jeongin’s hand.  ‘Best of five?’ he suggested.

The honey-blond boy nodded.  ‘You can pick first,’ he said generously.

So of course Seungmin picked one that played into all his strengths – crockery smash.  His turn was first and the man running the stall handed him three tennis balls before the tall boy moved behind the spray-painted white line.

‘Hang onto these for me?’ he asked brightly, holding two of the balls out to Jeongin.

The younger wordlessly accepted them, pretending like his ears weren’t going pink again because of that unfairly pretty smile.

Seungmin windmilled his arm a couple of times to loosen his shoulder up before hurling the ball forward in a whiplash-fast movement, knocking down almost two entire shelves and creating an almighty din as the dishes shattered.  He then proceeded to clear just about the whole set of shelves with the other two balls, leaving only one mug and a few small plates untouched.

The stall owner whistled, Jeongin gaped, and Seungmin smiled.

‘This game is so rigged in your favour it’s practically _cheating_ ,’ Jeongin hissed.

‘You said I could choose the game,’ was the smug reply.

Unsurprisingly, the stall owner appeared very relieved when Jeongin barely cleared two shelves with all three of his tennis balls.  He then gestured them towards his wall of prizes while he set about sweeping up the mess of broken crockery.

Seungmin could pick any prize he liked and he went for the top tier, selecting a two-foot-tall penguin plushy.  Beaming, he bequeathed it to a pink-cheeked Jeongin (it had to be the most conspicuous toy of the lot, dammit).  The younger boy could only pick from the lowest tier and he chose a keychain with a little nondescript green ball attached to it, handing it to Seungmin with a snarky comment about it reminding him of tennis balls from now until forever.

‘Thank you,’ Seungmin said with aggravating sincerity, dimpling at Jeongin and making it impossible to stay mad at him.

‘You’re welcome,’ Jeongin sighed, grabbing the older boy’s hand with his free one, giant penguin tucked under his other arm, and leading them to the next game.

The honey-blond boy chose the ring toss.  It was, as far as he could tell, the best of a bad lot of options.  Accuracy was obviously important, something Seungmin clearly had no trouble with, but so was delicacy, which was definitely not what the baseball club taught.  Plus, Jeongin used to play this game all the time with his younger brother.  Admittedly, it’d been a few years since the last time they did so but he hoped his past experience would count for something.

They were given five small hoops apiece.  Jeongin managed to land four, while Seungmin only got three.

‘I win!’ the younger boy cheered, dancing from foot to foot in victorious celebration.

Seungmin was far too good a sport to pout for more than a moment and his bright smile returned when Jeongin gave him his soft toy, a floppy little dog with silken ears.  The older boy chose a colourful slinky, which Jeongin promptly wore as a bracelet over his hoody sleeve.

The third game was the air rifle range.  They had five shots each and a series of targets to pick from, some moving, some stationary.  Never having held a gun in his life, Jeongin was pleased he managed to ding two of the motionless targets.  To his incredulous disgust, Seungmin turned out to be great at that game too, netting one still target and three moving ones.

‘I’m starting to think this whole competition has been a set-up from the start,’ Jeongin said suspiciously, fastening the Velcro patches of his new spider monkey toy around his neck and scooping up the penguin again.

‘I knew you’d get it eventually,’ Seungmin teased, looking quite pleased with himself as he pocketed the shiny compass the blond boy had given him.

For the fourth game, Jeongin brought them to an inflatable paddling pool which was full of rubber ducks with magnetic strips attached to them.  Large ducks were worth one point, small ducks were worth two.

Seungmin looked puzzled until Jeongin handed him a rudimentary fishing rod with another magnet on the end, his own in hand.

‘We’ve got two minutes to get as many ducks as we can,’ the younger boy explained and the brunet nodded.  ‘Ready?  Go!’

The game was deceptively tricky.  With half a dozen people dipping their lines in the water, the ducks were bobbing like crazy.  Getting them to stay in place long enough to get the magnets to connect was difficult with the bigger ducks and almost impossible for the small ducks.

By the end of the two minutes, the boys were sporting similarly pitiful piles of ducks.  Jeongin won by one point and he clapped his hands in triumph.

‘We’re tying for wins now,’ he announced cheerfully, glancing over at Seungmin to see his reaction, only to freeze when he saw the intent expression the older boy was watching him with.

‘W- what?  Do I have something on my face?’ Jeongin stuttered, flushing.

Seungmin smiled softly and shook his head.  ‘No.  Don’t worry about it, I’ll tell you later.’

The words sounded like a promise and Jeongin’s stomach flip-flopped in anticipation.  He tried to shake the feeling off as they returned their rods and collected their prizes, which came in the form of chocolate fish this time.

‘What shall we do for the last game?’ Seungmin asked as they continued on, eyeing the various stalls on each side.

Jeongin nibbled on his fish, trying not to look like he was hurrying through them so he had a free hand with which to hold Seungmin’s again.

‘Hmm...  What was it we’re competing for?’ he asked, like he didn’t remember exactly what it was.

Seungmin glanced at him.  ‘Mystery prize.  Whatever the winner asks for from the loser.’

The nervous-excited bubbles were returning and Jeongin quickly looked away before he gave himself away.  He knew exactly what he wanted the mystery prize to be but there was just _no way_ he’d have the courage to ask for it.  So he was going to have to trust that Seungmin was thinking along the same lines as him.

‘Let’s do that one,’ he blurted, pointing with his half-eaten chocolate fish to where a woman was smashing a rubber hammer down on the sensor of a high-striker machine, sending the puck soaring high.

Seungmin’s brows slowly rose and he squinted suspiciously at Jeongin, who feigned offense.

‘Hey, I lug a cello around most days, I’m not weak,’ the blond boy sniffed.  ‘But if you don’t think you can win –’

The older boy’s eyes went wide.  ‘No!  I can definitely beat you, the pride of the baseball club depends on it!’

Jeongin laughed at Seungmin’s playful expression of intense determination.  ‘Let’s go then!’

The queue for the high-striker was short and they were soon at the front.

‘I’m going first,’ Jeongin announced, thrusting his soft toys into Seungmin’s arms before he could protest.

Just because he knew wasn’t going to win didn’t mean he intended on going out without a fight.

‘When you’re ready,’ the young man running the game said, handing over the rubber mallet.

Jeongin eyed the scale on the side of the machine.  There was a bell at the top but there were also a series of grades on the scale, the lowest one reading “Okay” and the highest one reading “Amazing”.

He pushed up the sleeves of his hoody, took a deep breath, and swung.

A little electronic fanfare sounded and Jeongin looked up to see the “Good” sign light and flash.  He huffed, pleased.

‘You are _so_ going to lose this,’ Seungmin muttered, a glint in his eye as he accepted the hammer from Jeongin.

The blond boy stuck out his tongue and took his penguin and spider monkey back.

Then Seungmin pushed his own sleeves up, baring his forearms, and Jeongin thanked every one of his ancestors for contributing to his presence right here, right now.  Seungmin swung the mallet without hesitation and Jeongin nearly lost his marbles as the older boy’s shirt pulled taut across his back, showcasing smoothly flexing muscle for a brief second.

The trill of the fanfare startled him out of his gormless staring and he glanced up, embarrassed, to see the puck stopping barely two inches under the bell.  And, okay, so Jeongin had known Seungmin was obviously going to win, but by _that_ much?  Really??

‘Damn, I was so close,’ Seungmin frowned, passing back the mallet to the duly impressed stall owner.

Jeongin spluttered.  ‘I didn’t know you were the Hulk in disguise.’

The older boy looked startled for a moment and then he grinned, eyes curving up into crescents.  ‘I’m really not,’ he denied, stepping over to the prize rack.

‘False modesty doesn’t look good on you,’ Jeongin retorted.

A slightly shy expression took over Seungmin’s face.  ‘Thanks,’ he mumbled.

The honey-blond boy reached out and squeezed his hand.  ‘Hurry and pick your plushy so we can get to the mystery prize bit.’

Naturally, Seungmin selected the largest soft toy they had, this time a fluffy pink hippopotamus.  He went to hand it to Jeongin, but the younger boy stared at him incredulously from around his giant penguin and he tucked it under his own arm.

Then they linked their free hands and kept walking, the fair gates not far in the distance, gleaming in the afternoon sunshine.

‘Well that was fun, even if I lost in the end,’ Jeongin said, a content smile on his lips.

‘This whole day has been really fun.’  Seungmin glanced sidelong at the blond boy.  ‘I’m glad you said yes.’

Knowing he wouldn’t be able to make eye contact without blushing heavily, Jeongin simply moved slightly closer so that their shoulders brushed as they walked.  ‘I’m glad you asked me,’ he said quietly.

They paused in the large open area near the gates, neither boy quite ready to leave yet.

‘So, what do you want for your mystery prize?’ Jeongin asked, pulse quickening a smidge.

Seungmin’s eyes flicked down to his mouth and away just as fast, but Jeongin had seen it and a whole flock of butterflies burst to life in his stomach.

‘Um.  Well.’  The older boy nibbled on his lower lip, suddenly finding his shoes very fascinating.  He took a breath and peeked up through his lashes.  ‘You don’t have to say yes,’ he said softly, ‘but – a kiss, Jeonginnie.  I want a kiss.’

Jeongin was pretty sure the only reason he hadn’t started floating away was because of Seungmin’s slightly sweaty grip on his hand.

He dipped his head in a nod.  ‘Okay,’ he replied, just as softly.

Brows coming together in consternation, Seungmin reiterated, ‘If you don’t want to –’

The honey-blond boy leaned in close, the tips of their noses brushing, and the brunet fell silent, eyes wide.

‘I want to kiss you too, Seungminnie,’ Jeongin whispered and his lashes fluttered down.

Perhaps he closed the distance or perhaps Seungmin did but a moment later, there were warm lips pressing against his own.  Jeongin tried not to crush Seungmin’s hand as he moved his mouth with the elder’s, his butterflies transforming into noisy, colourful fireworks.  Seungmin sighed against Jeongin’s mouth and Jeongin tasted the sweetness of the candyfloss on his lips, making him smile.

They broke apart, both panting, cheeks flushed, eyes sparkling.  Jeongin squealed in the back of his throat and buried his face in the side of his plush penguin.  Seungmin laughed brightly, releasing the younger’s hand to pull him into a one-armed hug.

‘That was a good prize,’ he chirped, practically thrumming with happy energy.

Lifting his head, Jeongin agreed and then, riding a wave of adrenaline, he leaned in to press another, shorter kiss to Seungmin’s mouth.

The older blushed darker, looking utterly delighted.  ‘What was the for?’

Jeongin lightly knocked their foreheads together, the world outside the pair of them falling away.  ‘That was because I like you a lot and I’d really like to go on another date with you,’ he said, breathless.

Seungmin tilted his chin forward and placed a butterfly kiss against Jeongin’s parted lips.

Pulling back, he did not wait for the honey-blond boy to ask, saying, ‘I really like you too and I definitely want to go on another date.’

Unable to withstand all the emotions rushing through him right now, Jeongin squealed again and buried his face in the crook of Seungmin’s neck.  Warmth washed over him in a gentle wave as Seungmin combed his hand through the younger’s hair, cooing about how cute he was.

Yes, he was very, very glad the handsome baseball boy had asked him on a date to the fair.

**Author's Note:**

> i've been in jeongin hours for Days lads and i don't think i'm coming out, remember me as i was
> 
> (not to keep going on about it but angel fic is at 37k and c l i m b i n g i'm so excited)
> 
> ((gonna do this One time - my twt is @bluetown_ivy for anyone who wishes to swing by))


End file.
